The Strays and the Strangers: An Outlaw at Heart
by Ayoungbookworm
Summary: He is tame. She is wild. He wants the answers. She has them. He is guard. She is the outlaw. When Karo, a tamed and soft hearted wolf meets the snappish and wild Senei, an outlaw of the wild; he is desperate for answers. But when he finds out his whole life isn't what it is, he hangs around with the strange she-wolf and finds out what he is really meant to be...


It was bitter cold as the wind howled through the falling snow that skimmed the very tips of unfallen autumn leaves; that had stayed clinging on the great trees that stood. No creature stirred; nothing made a sound as the wind was causing the thunder to clap and the clouds caused the lightning to strike. Something moved in the breath of the great blizzard as the black sky closed out the sun rays and blue clear reflections on water that rushed past with a force no creature could match. It's mighty legs graced the land, it's breath becoming the mist and fog of the very heart of what was to come; some said it wasn't a true legend at all, some said that it was a ghost. Others just shrugged off the story as some mere hoax that was rumoured around the towns; an eerie howl rose above in an echo of the thunder that called to her, her tail swaying in the breeze as it seemed to almost drag at its tip. Her ears flicked at the sound of the lightning, crackling, sparkling in her eyes as it danced above her in the giant storm that surrounded her precious forest. She ordered no territory, for fighting would be involved that would waste her time; her goal was to remain being an outlaw, making her reward for her capture higher and higher every time. She knew her life was much more different that of a normal wolf would have, and nothing seemed the same as her soul remained loving the freedom she had deserved. Her dark brown with the red tinged fur glistened against the haunting snow that pressed against her pads, her forest green eyes staring at the one place where all danger could've come from. The lights that came from the wooden buildings, rooves piled with the heavy powder of white. From afar she heard a stallion's cry, she knew man would not visit in this storm, but they would tomorrow; and she would be ready. She padded up to a large hill, covered in snow that never melted for any reason, but it gave her a good look of danger coming and going from the town. She knew that the next few seasons would not be the same; as new man would come in search of her. As the clouds started to part from each other, the large disc of the moon was rising behind her, making her silhouette black as the shadows. Her eyes glowed sightly, and the lights were all turned off at the town. Then she made her move, running down the hill, no prints left behind as her tail flagged out behind her when she skidded to a halt at the edge of the buildings. Dogs were tied to verandas as they slept soundly, the she-wolf trotted past them and they didn't wake, they only slightly moved from the shivering wind. As she passed the pub area, a bernese mountain dog opened his groggy eyes; his jaws stretching into a wide yawn. He blinked, before spotting the shape raced past with what looked like the kill of a bird in her jaws. He let out a loud, echoing bark as he hoped to catch her. Lights trailed after the shadow as he gave chase, it looked like a fox, swift and sleek as one, but too big and thin to be one. The she-wolf looked over her shoulder; mist suddenly falling as a smaller dog tried to block her path. The white dog growled and scented the air, there was a scent, but it was faint. Very faint as he looked around. "She's around here somewhere..." he muttered a Scottish accent to himself. The she-wolf scampered past him and knocked him over; but as she did, he slammed his jaws onto her paw making her trip. She let out a snarl as she turned to face him with blazing eyes, the bird had fallen towards the bernese and he picked it up delicately. She staggered to her paws, she push her injured paw deeper into the snow, making it numb and race away with ease. The west highland glared after her, he growled.

"She's getting on my nerves that wolf!" he barked after her, but he knew she was already too far to hear him. The bernese looked at him, "Finn," his gruff voice started as if making a statement, "She is the legend." Finn snarled at the mention of the word 'legend'. He swung his muzzle towards him, baring his teeth as he did so. "She is no legend! She's just some strange outlaw who knows what she's doing! I wouldn't call her special, Rhodes, so don't bother talking about her anymore." He snapped harshly. Rhodes sighed, "Ah yes, but you know who wants to see her and ask her if he belongs with them in the forest."

"Karo is _not_ going to _her _for _answers_! He gets plenty here; he'd die on the first night out there." Finn retorted as he bounded over to stand beside his friend. Rhodes heaved an unconvincing sigh, looking at the small terrier with unsure eyes. "You never know Finn," he stated softly, barely a whisper. Finn snorted, "Come on, let's go back, this storm is getting worse," he turned and scampered out of the snow, Rhodes following and leaving behind long streaks of where his paws dragged heavily. A dark grey shadow came out from the alley way behind them, hearing everything they said. Its ears flattened as it lowered its face to gaze at the ground with a bitter feeling. The ears upon its forehead flicked as the eerie howl came above the storm, lightning crackling in unison with the sound, the shadow raised its head to stare in the direction of where the sound came from. As the howl faded away and was drowned out by the wind, the shadow turned and padded away in to the darkness and the clouds rolled back into each other once more.

It was a pleasant morning, the storm was over and the birds had decided to come out and sing a calm and cheerful song. People scurried along the streets, the town was not big, but it held many residents. Sled racing was one of the popular sports as normal in the snow country; snow covered the area endlessly and the clouds came at least a few times a week to bring a heavy blanket of cold, white powder to the buildings. Rhodes as lying down next to the bar, the men around him cheering pitifully and he soon declared them drunk in his mind and went back to minding his own business. In his eyes he made out the shape of a shadow approaching cautiously, he let out a growl as a warning to the shadow, it was a wolf no doubt, as he was trained to help the injured and know a wolf by scent and shape. The wolf pushed the doors open and looked at Rhodes with deep green eyes, "Rhodes?" he asked, eyes blinking with confusion. Rhodes' eyes relaxed and sighed softly, "Oh, Karo. It's you." Karo gave a nod at his comment, proceeding to enter the building and stand in front of the bernese mountain dog. Rhodes continued talking, "What brings you here my friend?" he asked gently, he was one of the nicest to Karo, the other dogs, mainly the huskies-shunned Karo because of his species, Rhodes knew not all wolves were mean. He had Karo to prove that, Karo was a loyal as any other dog, but he was a handful at times. Karo looked at Rhodes, "I saw that wolf last night, running away from the town..." he spoke softly, almost in a whisper. Rhodes' hanging ears lifted slightly, "Really?" he asked. "What did you notice about her?" he added onto the question before his friend could speak. Karo looked over his shoulder, "She...looked angry..." he flattened his ears, almost feeling ashamed of hurting the she-wolf though he did nothing to her. Rhodes sighed, "It's only because Finn caught her paw and I got the bird she tried to steal." He explained to the wolf. Karo gave him a glance, "But it was-" Rhodes gave him a snarl, "That she-wolf is an outlaw! That was _our_ bird, not hers. She's a thief, an outlaw." Karo backed up as Rhodes stood and padded towards him forcefully. "You need to stop being soft for them!" Karo's eyes widened as he fell off the veranda and onto the snow, he hadn't noticed that the door had been opened as he left the building; he was too focused on Rhodes' demanding and mean voice. He hated it when Rhodes scolded him. He went to get back up onto his paws, but Rhodes placed a paw in the middle of his shoulders to hold him down. "These humans saved you, they actually feed you! You get more food here than out there," he snarled in Karos' ear. Karo growled, listening with a rage building up inside of him. Rhodes knew it was time to back off, he took his paw off of Karo gently. He lowered his voice as Karo rose up to give him a cold glare. "We don't want to lose you, Karo." He didn't say any more as he turned and padded back into the bar. Karo sighed vigorously after Rhodes, striding away angrily. Rhodes stared out of the door after Karo, he heard the whistle from his owner to arrive by its side and he obeyed quickly. The human gave him a pat, "We'll get her, boy. All good things must come to an end..." he looked at the glass that he was cleaning with slight remorse. "Sometimes I think she's here to protect us...She's just wanting her reward..." he lowered his voice so no one else in the bar could hear. Rhodes looked up at him with a soft gaze, understanding his opinion completely. A tall, lean man strode through the bar doors, Finn following quickly as he ducked under the doors as they swung. The bar owner blinked in surprise, looking up and stopped cleaning the glass. The man approached the bar, "The usual." He demanded as he sat down. The bar owner nodded, walking away and filling a glass up quickly and sliding it towards the customer who grabbed it softly in his palm and drank from it slowly, "She's a tricky one all right..." the bar owner listened to the words softly. They were brittle, and he could hear loud bang the man made a he clutched his hand in to a fist and hit the table. "Damn wolf!" he scowled. The bar owner sighed, "She is strange...I mean, she goes into the town and at least succeeds in stealing something every day. At least Finn bit her paw last night; we can follow the blood trail and locate her..." he tried to suggest new ideas as best he could, but every idea didn't work. She still won every time. Finn sat beside Rhodes, scoffing as the humans went into a plan. "Why don't they just shoot her? Surely it isn't that hard to hit a wolf." His fur stood on end in delight at the thought of killing the outlaw. Rhodes looked at him, "You know the she-wolf, and she always has a trick up her pads." Finn growled, agitated at the comment, "Are you listening to yourself?! She may be smart, but she's a normal wolf. Nothing more. And all wolves die after being shot!" he snarled, baring his white teeth. Rhodes sighed, thinking for a long while; he went to speak but the humans interrupted him. "Come on, Finn, Rhodes. We're going hunting for a demon." Finns' owner walked out of the bar, with the two canines following and gathered up the best hunting dogs and started to head out over the hill. Karo stared after them, gazing curiously as they vanished over the hill; he turned and padded away towards his own home and wait for their arrival back.

The dogs were scattered over the forest, black noses planted to the ground and sniffing endlessly. Humans followed with guns and fire in hand, it was almost night by this time and the forest was like a labyrinth at its darkest. They hardly noticed the shadows lurking around them, red eyes glaring at them. As one hunter shot, the animals scattered. Just rabbits that were out for the evening and curiousity got the better of them; after the gunshot had fired, one of the hunters growled angrily. "Are you trying to let her know we're here?" he snarled. "N-No sir!" the human stammered fearfully as he gripped his shirt, before the hunter could be hit over the head by the man, Finn let out a howl as he found a faint scent. The hunters looked in Finns direction and followed quickly, Finn continued to follow the scent and broke into a run as he sensed the she-wolf near. Rhodes caught up with him over time and spotted the wolf shape sitting with their back to the group; it was licking a paw that has been injured, tail flicking softly as it didn't notice the arrival of the hunting party. Finn let out a soft growl before racing towards the wolf with sheer anger. The wolf turned, eyes widened in surprise and its grey fur was suddenly dyed crimson as the white terrier sunk his jaws into the back of its neck. Rhodes' eyes widened, "It...isn't...her..." Finn let out an echoing snarl of annoyance, glaring at the now lifeless wolf lying beneath his tiny paws. The hunters gripped their guns, a look of anger on their faces. Rhodes flicked an ear, "But...How? How on earth could that wolf have injured the same paw?!" he backed away as Finn got off the wolf and stalked back to the group. Rhodes padded up to Finn, "I thought you had her scent!" he exclaimed with unsureness. Finn snarled, "I did have her scent. But it wasn't the right wolf." He slammed a paw into the snow, at the same moment a dog came running towards them. "Take cover! Take cover!" it yelped. Rhodes looked at the dog, "What's going on?" he asked the dog as it passed them. The dog looked at them, "T-The she-wolf..." he didn't have to say anymore as a snarl came from the way the dog approached them. The shadow of a wolf was clear in everyone's eyes and its eyes were blazing. Rhodes gasped but Finn let out a chuckle, "Come out from hiding have you?" he raced towards the she-wolf. The she-wolf leapt over him, landing on the dog running away from her and slammed her jaws into the flesh of its neck, it was killed instantly and the blood soon ran out from the wound and onto the white ground; the she-wolfs' teeth were exposed to the warm liquid and were soon covered in crimson. She opened her jaws to show her canines that her mouth contained, they were dangerous and glinted softly. The dogs were shaking with fright as they stared at the she-wolf; Finn growled at her and the humans raised their guns at her. The she-wolf snarled and let out the mysterious howl and mist seemed to be summoned, as it rose the she-wolf had vanished. The hunters threw their guns down in disgust and hatred. "Again! This wolf is getting on my nerves! She's killed three hunting dogs in two months!" one of them scowled. Another hunter sighed, "Come on, we got something in this forest, she always stops us from killing most things." The group circled the shot wolf and dragged it back to the town. Finn stared back into the forest, growling to the air and spoke as he did, "You'll lose one day, outlaw!" The only answer that responded to him was silence, nothing more; Rhodes looked at Finn, "Come on, we'd better get home before she comes back and kills one of us." He spoke gently, reassuringly to Finn, he had admired the small dog's determination, but now wasn't the time to attract attention. Finn sighed, turning and bounding back to the group and back to the town. Karo pricked his ears as they arrived back, they had the body of a deceased wolf and his heart felt a twinge of pain. As the wolf was dragged past, he let out a small sigh of relief, it wasn't the wolf they were after; but he could feel the dark energy generating from the hunting party. Unlucky, he guessed to himself and stood; heading towards Finn and Rhodes, the two raised their heads from their conversation and looked at Karo. Karo looked at them with a comforting glance, "Unlucky again?" he asked them. Finn snorted, "Does it look like we have the body of that she-wolf?" Rhodes sighed, "Excuse him, he's just agitated from one of our own being killed by her." Karo's eyes widened, "What?! One of the hunting dogs was killed!" he exclaimed, it was rare for wolves around these parts to kill so many at a time, it was mainly a range of wolves killing off the dogs. But this outlaw meant business when it came to intruding in her forest and probably territory; Karo often wondered what made her think that killing was the solution to controlling anger...How he yearned to know the secrets of her. Rhodes continued on, "Yes, another one...We're going to rest for the night, it's been a long time since we rested our paws and many of us have raw pads from the cold snow. I'll see you in the morning, Karo..." he limped past the wolf who glanced after him worriedly. Finn let out a growl, "If you ever go to her, be careful. She's like a gypsy, a witch!" he struggled through the snow, but made it onto his veranda and into the house. The doors to the bar swung as Rhodes entered his own home, and Karo proceeded back to his own warm and loving home. As he entered through the door, his owner scratched behind his ear and went back to minding his newspaper; "Luckily you're not as evil as the lot of them, boy..." the human spoke softly to his companion. Karo padded away from the human and into his bed, it had the moonlight shining on it and the stars were glistening brightly as comets shot through the atmosphere. Karo rested his head on his paws and fell asleep.

Finn approached Rhodes in the hours of the morning; he let out a soft growl so he didn't wake the sleeping humans in the household. He nudged Rhodes with a paw and the bernese yawned loudly, "Finn?" he asked as he raised his head and rested his gaze on his dream intruder. Finn looked at him with uncertain eyes, "Have you seen Karo?" he asked, panic and urgency in his tone. Rhodes shook his head, "Not since last night. Why?" he still didn't catch on even to the large amount of canines calling out Karo's name and searching everywhere they could fit. Finn flicked an ear, growling, "He's gone! He's not in town! That means..." he trailed his voice away softly, Rhodes stood up and gazed out of the window to the forest. "He's gone in to the wilderness..." he ended the sentence for his little friend. Finn raced out the door without another word, Rhodes' eyes widened and dashed after him, "You're not going to follow are you?!" he exclaimed, Finn growled, "In order to get Karo back we must. He trusts strangers too quickly. Who knows what that outlaw will do to him!" Rhodes couldn't help but agree, no matter how much he wanted to speak to her himself, he was completely worried that she would attack anyway. Wolves were not fair creatures most of the time, and he knew the toll of them for attacking for too long and for Karo to be visiting one of the most wanted brought a pang to his chest. Some more dogs followed them over the hill and into the looming and dark forest; Rhodes and Finn took the lead and the group left tracks in the snow behind them. Finn looked over his shoulder, "Make sure you block all her exits. She'll be with Karo all right, Karo can't run from this wild animal!" he shouted boldly and the dogs let out barks of delight. Karo looked around the trees; the air was like liquid and refreshing..._No wonder so many animals hate being with the humans. This place is amazing! _He thought delightfully. "This might not be a bad place to live in at all." He laughed to himself as he frolicked through. But his adventure was cut short by a sharp growl in the shadows; the wolf gulped, "Who's there?" he called. "I'm warning you! I know humans!" he growled as he narrowed his eyes on where the bushes rustled. He backed up and raced deeper into the forest, the bushes rattling after him as the creature bolted after him; he almost slammed into multiple trees as he ran, but ignored the obstacles and kept moving. He stopped in a clearing, the sun shining through the breaking hole in the trees; he panted heavily, the running taking the breath out of him and freezing his lungs painfully. His breath became like mist, feeding the cold air that was colourless in his very eyes, he watched the breath fade away like a candle being blown out and nothing was there to relight it until the next match was lit. He looked around with a stern gaze, nothing had followed him this far, he presumed the pursuer got bored and went to hunt a rabbit, or a caribou. He felt the sun on his fur that was, until a shadow loomed over him, darkening the snow in front of him; he let out a frightened gasp and whipped around to face the creature. There she was, standing upon a rock that he failed to notice at his arrival only a few moments before; she was growling gently, throwing it into a snarl every now and then. Karo couldn't move his paws; every inch of his body was attracted to that one wolf he wanted to meet the most. The she-wolf let out a demanding voice as she spoke, "Why are you here?" her eyes told Karo that she was not a welcoming wolf at the moment. Karo tried to speak, but his voice could not be found; "Well?" she showed her teeth, they glinted in the sunlight at the frightened wolf. "I-I don't mean to intrude on your territory, I just...want...to know...some stuff..." he lowered his head with every word, wanting to hide his head under his paws and hope that she would give him mercy. The she-wolf lashed her abnormally long tail, "I don't give answers to mutts. Go back to your humans where you lie by the fire and not get burned." she landed in front of him, "This place is not for the ones who are weak, it is not for the ones who think the wilderness is paradise for all living things. But it's not. It's a living hell, you need the skills to survive and do what you must to eat at night!" her voice made Karo shudder, he let out a whine under his breath, making sure she couldn't hear. He swallowed deeply, taking in all the pride he could, "I want answers! And I know you're the only one who can give them to me because no one else can," and then the she-wolf didn't speak for a long while, but held a growl at him, "For the last time, you do not need the answers you want. You may be brave now, but this place isn't for cowards, it isn't for mutts." Karo flinched at the word 'mutt' as he heard the word again. Before he could speak, the she-wolf interrupted, "If you don't want to end up like your friends, I'd suggest you leave. Immediately!" she went to bite him but Finn slammed into her, making her lose her balance and fall in to the snow, however she rolled and regained her footing. Finn and the outlaw held a glaring gaze at each other, "Senei..." Finn spat out her name with disgust. Senei raised her head, a smirk emerging on her face, "Ah, Finn...Bring your little followers too?" she teased with intensity as the dogs surrounded them. Karo looked at Senei with wide eyes, and then he narrowed them as he studied her gaze. Forest green eyes...Deep green like his...Karo blinked and backed up, how on earth could this outlaw have the same coloured eyes as him? And how could he have failed to notice them in the first place?! Finn's snarl interrupted his clouded mind; Rhodes came up beside Karo and pulled him back from the two canines staring at each other. Finn growled, "Catch her." He ordered the dogs, but Senei leapt into the air and they slammed their heads together, falling into the snow. Senei bounced off a tree and landed safely on the snow, it crunched under her paws with lightness and it didn't seem to shift or expand out from her weight. She was behind Finn and her jaws slowly opened with the vicious growl that she held in her throat; Karo gulped at the feeling of her jaws breaking one of Finn's bones, or even worse; kill him. Finn stood his ground as the she-wolf broke in to a run towards him, teeth glinting in the sun as she passed under its light. Karo dashed away from Rhodes side and raced towards her head on. Senei chuckled as the two came closer to each other and at the last minute she was off the ground, high above Karo's head. Karo's eyes widened and he looked up in surprise, Senei spun frontwards and slammed her tail on his head, and she seemed to stay balanced by her tail before it slid off. Karo growled, but as he went to bite at her tail, he felt a terrible pain on his skull and sunk in to the snow helplessly. His whole body was shaking violently from the impact and his eyes looked up in fear as Senei landed in front of him. He felt her power generating from her fur as it hit him like a tsunami, a force he couldn't deal with and soon fell unconscious, Senei let out a laugh as she mocked the dogs. "You are all fools. Thinking you can beat me! Look what I've done to your friend here. He's of no use to you." She turned away from them, Finn let out a snarl, "You monster!" he raced towards her, but she grabbed him by her tail and threw him into a tree. "And see to it that you take a break!" she growled at Rhodes, Rhodes narrowed his eyes as he watched her walk away and vanish.

"Rhodes, aren't you going to go after her?" one of the dogs asked confused as he came up beside him. Rhodes looked at him, "It's no use. She'll be on the other side of the forest by the time you take a paw step. It's best if we get Karo and Finna home


End file.
